The Brontë Society, which administers the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, saw its admissions income grow by over 20% during 2017. This follows an increase of over 15% in 2016 over 2015.

2017 also saw visitor numbers increase from just under 80,000 in 2016 to almost 88,000 in 2017, an increase of just under 10%. Analysis of visitor data indicates that approximately 25% of visitors to the Museum were from overseas and 25% were from Yorkshire, with the remaining 50% travelling to Haworth from other parts of the UK.

2017 was the second year in the Brontë Society’s five-year bicentennial festival marking the bicentenaries of each of the Brontë siblings. 2018 marks the bicentenary of the birth of Emily Brontë, as well as the 125th anniversary of the Brontë Society and the 90th anniversary of the opening of the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth’s Church Street.

Brontë Society Treasurer, Rev Peter Mayo-Smith said:

“Our ongoing bicentennial festival, which celebrated Branwell in 2017, continues to have a positive impact both in numbers visiting and spending.

Our ambitions for the organisation, coupled with good governance, sound financial management and carefully managed investment of our reserves, saw us accepted into the Arts Council’s National Portfolio from this year. ACE’s investment in the Society of almost £1million over the next four years will also help the organisation to attract further funding and opportunities for growth.”

The Society has also seen a growth in the number of people joining the organisation as members. At the end of 2017, the global membership of the Brontë Society had increased by almost 6% to 1851 members, a number which has continued to rise since the beginning of 2018.

John Thirlwell, Chair of the Brontë Society board of trustees, added:

“I would like to thank my fellow trustees and the museum staff for these exceptional results. The Brontë Society is one of the oldest literary societies in the world and we have come a long way in our 125 year history. Over the last three years, trustees have worked with the museum’s senior management to bring the organisation up to date: reviewing policies, procedures and our constitution to ensure they reflect those of a modern, multi-faceted charity. We look forward to sharing the developments with our members and audiences later this year.”